Jira or SAP Cloud ALM? An exchange of blows between four test managers

Stefan: Welcome to our exchange of blows! Today, two teams meet to present their arguments in favor of their preferred test management tools. On the one side is Team Jira, on the other Team SAP Cloud ALM. Team Jira, why is your tool the best?

Team Jira: Clearly, because it is even more flexible than a Swiss army knife and not as cumbersome as your old SAP Solution Manager, which has been dubbed a pocket knife! With Jira, we can customize everything the way we need it.

Team SAP Cloud ALM: Well, but flexibility can also lead to chaos! Especially when you already have complex projects like an S/4HANA transformation, the customer wants nothing more than a solid framework and guidance. SAP Cloud ALM offers clear structures and guidance. We SAP customers pay nothing extra, and the tool is not licensed per user. The setup is simple and efficient, so even interns can easily get started. If you like, I can provide you with your own SAP Cloud ALM tenant within minutes.

Team Jira: But do you also have a wide range of variants? In Jira, for example, we have flexible dashboards. We can filter and tag everything as required by the project. And the onboarding of external testers? It’s quick and easy, as long as the company provides enough user licenses.

Team SAP Cloud ALM: Variant diversity is all well and good, but we rely on proven SAP best practice templates and use them to bring the SAP Activate Methodology to life. Have you tried mapping SAP Activate in Jira? Have fun with it…
Efficiency and structure lead us to our goal. And the development of Cloud ALM is based on user requirements. We have a strong community and SAP implements the “Influence Requests” of the community. That’s what you call customer orientation with a plan!

Team Jira: Structure is good, but innovation is better. We can expand with add-ons such as Xray or Confluence. No wish remains unfulfilled – everything just as the customer needs it.

Team SAP Cloud ALM: Oh yeah? I think you need your own Jira project so that you don’t lose track of the costs and the add-ons!

But let’s move on to the technical topics. How does defect management work for you, for example? We have complete end-to-end traceability with transport links – nota bene without having to configure anything. Defects are transparent, everyone knows immediately which retests are pending. And now hold on tight: we even have a direct link to the transport requests. No guessing game as to which correction belongs to which defect.

Team Jira: Defects run as bugs and are flexible to handle. The developer pushes it on, and that’s it. And for reporting? We set up our dashboards individually and thus maintain an overview at all times. Sure, a mistake can happen with the tags, but that’s solved quickly.

Team SAP Cloud ALM: Oh, you bend your reports to fit the evaluation. With you, reporting is an effort every time! With us, the dashboards are available out-of-the-box – there’s no need to make any improvements.

Team Jira: And what do you think of the test phase classification? I can easily control this in Jira via release cycles.

Team SAP Cloud ALM: Release cycles that do not control transports and changes are gugus for me. Naming and tags are completely sufficient for us. We have best practices for the test scope that can be used immediately. No step is left to chance and not a penny is spent extra. We have test plans that can also be tagged for the relevant phase. And again: we can even start deployments to the next system via our release cycles. But you’ll probably have another expensive add-on for that.

Team Jira: Right, there’s an add-on for that. Flexibility has its price!

Let’s talk about transparency. With our reports, we answer the question of whether everything has been completed without any problems.

Team SAP Cloud ALM: We have transparency thanks to the process hierarchies. Everything remains traceable and what was created in the project can simply be transferred to operations. We can tell you at any time whether the processes have been tested or whether a requirement is still being tested. No wishes remain unfulfilled.

Stefan: Thank you, Team Jira and Team SAP Cloud ALM! Your exchange of blows has given us an exciting insight into the strengths and weaknesses of both tools. Do you still have a feature that you are currently missing in your tools?

Team Jira: Yes, a PowerPoint export at the touch of a button would be brilliant.

Team SAP Cloud ALM: That would be handy! I would also like to see a comprehensive mass upload function with clear sequences for test cases.

Stefan: Many thanks to Team Jira and Team SAP Cloud ALM – that was exciting! Whether you prefer the flexibility and adaptability of Jira or the structure and clear lines of SAP Cloud ALM, both tools have their specific advantages in test management. Team Jira stands for agile customization and individualization, which is particularly useful in complex and variable projects. Team SAP Cloud ALM, on the other hand, focuses on efficiency and user guidance, perfect for SAP-driven projects in which best practices can be directly integrated.

In the end, the respective project or perhaps even the overall organization and the specific requirements will probably decide which tool best meets the test management requirements.

One thing is certain: both teams love their tools and use them optimally to ensure quality and transparency in their projects.

It can therefore be said that it is not just a question of the tool, but also of the correctly set up and utilized test strategy.

Thanks for reading and see you in the next exchange of blows!